The Prophecy
by Jack Mitchell
Summary: From across time, space and realities,The forces of darkness will gather in the valley of the sun.Masters of their powers, rulers of evil,They will gain their strength from the mouth of hell,Destroy the chosen one and lay waste to humanity.


Fan Fiction  
  
The Prophecy  
  
From across time, space and realities  
The forces of darkness will gather in the valley of the sun.  
Masters of their powers, rulers of evil,  
They will gain their strength from the mouth of hell,  
Destroy the chosen one and lay waste to humanity,  
Upon this day the world as we know it will end.  
  
Spike sat at the head of the long wooden table and looked with pride at the members of the Dark Initiative. They had gathered together over the past few months, drawn by a mysterious force of inevitability.   
"The slayer lives, this is a problem, as long as she lives we will never blossom to our full potential." He grinned and looked at them all in turn. The tall man with the glowing black eyes, the pale woman with the short black hair, the red haired woman with the icy sword, the third woman with the piercing eyes and red dress and the solemn and mysterious man with large flaming wings.  
"We can destroy her, we will destroy her." He slammed his hand on the table and the shorthaired woman looked up at him. Their eyes met and both looked away.  
The meeting ended and they split up and went to their chambers. Above them in Sunnydale centre Buffy and Willow were picking clothes to wear for the party on Saturday.  
"I think pink and fluffy is very the way to go!" Buffy said holding up a vile top to Willow's chest.  
"mmm." Willow agreed nonchalantly  
Buffy's mobile went off and she answered it  
"Hello?"  
"Hello Buffy, it's Giles."  
"Hey Giles, what's up?"  
"Well, it's nothing to worry about, I hope, but…"  
"Okay, I'm worried now."  
"Well, it's just that I've been reading the watcher's almanac and it seems that some force of evil is heading towards Sunnydale. It may just be a myth or a rumour but you have to be careful."  
"That's great!"  
"You're a bit chirpy over this aren't you?"  
"No, sorry, Willow found a nice top. I'll be fine Giles, thanks anyway."  
  
At the beginning of time the God of Darkness ruled the shadows of the earth, he was all powerful at all times as he echoed the darkness that he saw in the earth inside his own heart.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Over 148 years ago a black clad female wandered the earth causing mischief or helping wherever she saw fit. Her hair was short, black and occasionally gelled into spikes. Her black boots thudded against the wet cobbles as she walked down the street, her emerald eyes darting left and right at the few passers by. They looked puzzled or shocked when they saw her, she didn't conform to the fashion or manners of anyone else. All the other ladies wore petticoats and bonnets; she wore black trousers, a black shirt and a flowing black leather coat. Her hands were thrust deep into her pockets and she looked sullen and evil. Reaching the docks she walked by the waters edge until a yob walked out in front of her followed by two more either side of him.  
"Wotcha!" he leered, "c'mere." He reached out for her and one of the others pulled out a stick. She tilted her head to one side surveying them critically before extending her hand towards them. There was a blinding flash and the leader was reduced to a pile of soot. The others took one look at the dust, one at her and ran screaming into the night.  
A few years later she met a man who was a rubbish poet but great in bed. His name was William the Bloody and they had a torrid love affair for a few years, however when he met Drusilla and she turned him into a vampire he left her. Her heart was broken and she wandered the earth aimlessly again through the Victorian era. At one point in Prague she saw them again and created a large angry crowd to attack Drusilla, contrary to popular belief at the time Dru' survived.  
Eventually she arrived in Sunnydale and did a few spells to put a spanner in the works. She saw Spike when he showed up again but didn't talk to him. A few weeks later she was out walking in the countryside dragging one foot after the other in mournful depression. Looking up she saw a large space ship land in a field further ahead. It was flickering because it was under a cloaking devise. Mortals would have been unable to see anything of it. She hid behind a tree as a door slid open on the side of it and figures descended. She crouched and then leapt into the air, flying high she hovered above them watching in the inky blackness of the night.  
The three figures stood at the bottom of the ramp and looked around at the area. One was tall and wearing all black, spiked black hair and glowing black eyes. The second man was tall and sombre looking with a glow around him and the third man was pale and with an angular face. The tall dark man stopped looking round suddenly and tilted his head up slowly until his black eyes were staring into hers.  
She realized she had been spotted; this man had powers that far surpassed her own, she decided to take her chances anyway. No one could say she was a coward. Flying down she arrived a few feet in front of what was obviously the leader.  
"Hi." She smiled  
"Hello." He replied, he was looking at her. Not in a way that mortals look at a person but deeper, looking into her soul, there was nothing she could do about it. She was always an open person. He seemed to be satisfied with what he found there because he spoke again.  
"The name's Ikanden." He reached out a hand in greeting; she took it and shook it warmly.  
"Tina" she responded.  
"And you were spying on us from the air why?" he asked  
"Well, for a start, because I can. And secondly, because I wanted to." She smiled.  
He tilted his head to one side and smiled. She liked him, he reminded her of Spike but he had so much more power and charm.  
"What are you doing round here?" she asked politely  
"Browsing. Just taking a look around another dimension." He replied.  
"Well, if you're an all round good guy who's kind to puppies and helps his fellow man, you're in the wrong place. This is the hell mouth and quite frankly…it rocks, big time!" Tina laughed.  
"Good, so where does a guy go for a drink round here?" he asked.  
"Just what I was going to say." Said the man with the pale face and angular features. "The name's Noskau by the way, my mates call me Nosc."   
"And my name's Lukas." The tall blonde man added.  
"Well, I'm pleased to meet all of you. I can show you a great place to drink, whatever beverage you're into. The town centre. Only thing is, stay low and don't stick out or you'll be slayed!" Tina said.  
"Slayed? By whom?" Ikanden laughed as if the notion of anyone even coughing in his vicinity without written permission was unthinkable.  
"There's this girl, blonde, bimbo, annoying and not funny. She some sort of chosen thing and she goes around spouting one liners before destroying a perfectly nice demon." Tina replied her eyes narrowing as she described the vile banshee.  
"Well, no threat there then." He smiled and putting his arm round Tina reassuringly they walked off towards the town centre.  
The town was buzzing with people eating, drinking, late night shopping. They thronged through the streets busy about their own lives and not caring about the few who were picked off here and there by the occasional demon, vampire or un-dead corpse. Noskau was having a great time, lulling his victims into calm trances, taking them into a dark alley way and then drinking their life blood was for him a great evening out. Ikanden drank beer but still didn't blend in, his eyes had changed to a normal style but the colour blue they radiated was almost hypnotising. Tina hadn't even touched her vodka she was so fascinated by him. Lukas was drinking his glass of water a tiny sip at a time so the small clouds of steam coming from his mouth weren't noticed.  
"What's with the steam." Tina asked Ikanden quietly in case it was a sore point with Lukas, you never know.  
"He's a seraphim." Ikanden replied as if that explained it perfectly. Tina waited in silence until Ikanden realized she required some more explanation.  
"An angel, made of fire, flaming sword, revenge." He said simply.  
"Oh, a vengeance demon." She said.  
"No, no, no" Ikanden shook his head "a seraphim, he's a holy angel."  
"Very sullen." Tina remarked  
"No, he's just meditative, very pious but a mean guy to fight." Ikanden said finishing his sentence by downing the rest of his beer.  
There was a crash outside and sounds of a fight. Ikanden and Lukas rushed out first. Tina finished her vodka and followed. Buffy was kicking a man into an alleyway and rushed after him to finish him in privacy. Not many people were watching, or cared for that matter. Ikanden walked down the alley, he saw her knock the man to the floor and ram a stake into his heart, which made him vanish in a puff of dust. She stood up and brushed the residue off the knees of her trousers, and then she noticed him. Blacker than the darkness only his pale face could be seen and it radiated other worldliness.   
"And you are?" she sneered.  
"No-one." He smiled a cold smile laced with malice.  
"Well you'd better be someone or somewhere else right now or you're a dead no-one." She flicked her hair out of her face and raised her stake. Lukas and Noskau strode either side of Ikanden, faces grim and set like stone. Tina decided to hang back, she didn't want to be a third wheel.  
"You start the trouble girl and we'll finish it." Noskau growled. Lukas said nothing, he didn't talk much. Buffy leaped at Ikanden with a high kick, he simply looked at her and she spun over in the air and landed on her back dazed. Tina decided to make a move; she walked forward and kicked her in the ribs. Buffy groaned and tried to get up, Tina slammed her booted foot into the small of Buffy's back sending her down to meet the pavement.  
"Urgh." She groaned coughing pitifully.  
"Oh, leave some for me." A new voice made Ikanden turn round but Tina didn't need to, to know who it was.  
"Spike." She smiled coldly looking at him with mixed feelings.  
"Hello love, nice to see you again, you're looking well." He raised an eyebrow in greeting and then turned to the groaning slayer, smiled and kicked her in the face.  
"God I've wanted to do that for so long." He sighed.   
"So, who are you Spike?" Ikanden asked.  
"A friend of Tina's." he replied  
"Are you b*****ks!!" she squealed angrily, "you ditched me good and proper, you would have broken my neck too if I wasn't immortal."  
"I wouldn't!" Spike gasped insulted, "I loved you, I would have cut off your head."  
"As if!! You know I don't like that -SNIFF- you get turned into a vampire and you leave me you b*****d!! I like vampires! I love vampires! And you do that to me…" she broke off, sniffing. Noskau grinned. Then she stopped any signs of sadness and punched him in the face. It didn't hurt much so he didn't mind.   
"Look, I'm sorry my sweet, people change, things change, I met Dru' things are great with us, you'll meet someone else I'm sure. You're a witch do a love spell." He smirked.  
"A love spell!! A bloody LOVE spell, you'd think after 126 years of being single I might have thought of that one!!!!" she screamed "You and Dru won't last!"  
"Is that a wish or a prophecy?" he laughed.  
"It's a command! You and Dru' won't last, she'll leave you like you left me, she'll break your heart, she'll destroy you but you'll live, you'll LIVE a life of helplessness, you'll be as defenceless as a bloody BABY!! I'll see to it, this is my will so mote it be!" as resonance to her words a clap of thunder shook the sky and a single tear crept down her pallid face from her dark eyes. She spun around and stalked out of the alleyway back into the street.  
"Women!" Spike smiled to lighten the mood, "what does she know, she can't change me and Dru, we're forever! And I'll never be bloody defenceless, I'm not called Spike for nothing I'm bloody SAVAGE I can rip a human inside out soon as look at him!" then he marched off. Then they remembered the slayer, she'd gone.  
  
It was a while later while walking in the forest Tina came across the red haired vampire. She had a deep gash on her arm and she struggled on with a magnificent sword that looked as though it had been carved from ice. Tina came over to day hello but before she could say anything the vampire leapt at her wielding the sword, eyes blazing. Tina created a shield all round her so the sword hit it and bounced off harming no one. This gave her time to explain that she was generally a nice person, depending whose side you were on.  
  
Alisha 'Red' Winter was a vampire sired about 190 years ago by Angelis, a torturous and evil vampire of great repute. He'd left her soon after though without explaining anything about what she could do or where was it safe to go. She hated him for that and she struck out on her own. She decided to live in the arctic; it was night for half a year there. It gave her plenty of time to eat, drink and be merry. She discovered a world of magick below the ice that no mortal has ever found. Deep below a hidden lake millions of years old. There the ice maidens gave her a powerful sword made out of the ice, it could cleave solid steel in two and it would never need sharpening. With this tool of destruction she made her way towards America, she didn't know why but she went anyway. Killing and destroying anyone who crossed her path she blazed a trail of destruction as she went. Reaching Sunnydale she prowled the streets at night picking off unwary mortals who stayed out too late. It was there she met her sire again. A great battle ensued in which she would have been the victor; she was about to remove his head with her sword when a powerful kick from a young blonde girl sent her rolling over into the road. The girl followed up her attack with a stake, Alisha blocked it but her arm was cut badly in the process. Knowing she was beaten she ran for it, the blonde girl didn't give chase but stayed to nurse the fallen Angel.   
Alisha ran madly into the forest looking for shelter, cursing her near miss at revenge, and screaming inside her mind. Suddenly a girl in black appeared in front of her, another foolish mortal. She swung her sword to slice her in two but it hit something invisible and she realised this was not an ordinary mortal. Then the girl in black began to speak.  
"Don't wig out! I'm a good guy, well a bad guy…it depends who's side you're on."  
"What?" Alisha frowned puzzled "who the hell ARE you?"  
"That's what I'm trying to tell you! I'm Tina, you're bleeding and I'm on your side!  
"How do you know you're on my side?" Alisha asked warily.  
"Er…I don't, but you're a vampire right?" Tina replied.  
"Yeeees." Alisha nodded slowly.  
"So therefore since I like vampires I'm on your side." And she waved her arm and healed Alisha to prove it.  
"Alright, I'll believe you. If you like vampires how come you're not one yourself?"  
"Ah! Good question, but it's because an eternity of night times seems a tad dull to me. I like the sun, get a god tan and I can do recon' during the day."  
"That's true." Alisha agreed.  
"So come on, I can take you somewhere safe."  
So they walked off through the forest chatting to one another getting to know more about each other and becoming friends.  
  
"A dark what?" Spike asked puzzled. Tina was sitting opposite him trying to tell him her idea.  
"A dark initiative, like the ones which put that chip in your head the other month."  
"F*****g b*****s!!" he growled  
"Yeah, right, so what I was thinking is we get back at them by having our own group!"  
"Oh, yeah that's really gonna help, I can see it now. Me, you and your little buddies all in a tree house eating cookies and talking about the slayer and sayin' *oh she's a right bitch I hate her, I mean does she even wash, I think not!* I can bloody well see it now and I don't think I'll join in."  
"It's not going to be like that and don't be such a prat." She sighed.  
"I'm not being a prat, you're being a moron cause you're too blind to see that no matter what we do some bloody power is going to protect that slayer from anything. Superficial wounds is all we can get to her before one of us is wasted."  
"Pessimism will get you no where!" Tina shook her head.  
"I've got a chip in my head, I can't hurt anyone…"  
"Except demons"  
"...Except demons, and I've been rejected twice and mistreated the rest of the time." He lowered his head. Tina sighed again and patted his arm comfortingly.  
"Maybe you and I could…you know…for old times sake." He jerked his head in the direction of the bed. Tina recoiled her arm.  
"I can't, I couldn't, Ikanden and I, you can understand." She said.  
"NO I can't understand, you were perfectly willing before. You loved it!"  
"Yeah, before, one hundred and twenty bloody six years ago it's a far cry from now!" she shouted. "I'm with Ikanden now and if you can't except that…" she began. But he grabbed hold of her and kissed her. As much as she might have wanted that moment to last forever she remembered how her heart had been broken and pushed him away.  
"We can be friends Spike, it's all I can give you…and the promise that together, as a group we can defeat the slayer, we can do it!"   
"Alright, but promise me one more thing." Spike asked  
"What?"  
"If Ikanden leaves you…"  
"I'll think about it Spike," she smiled at past memories, "I'll think about it."  
  
  
A trail of bloody and violent murders had been occurring across Mexico over the past few years, some of them had been covered up, some never found, but if you investigated carefully, some savage beast had been ripping up humans across the state. Jeannie sat on her bed watching T.V. She was tall with fairly short hair tinted gold but mainly black, her eyes were hazel green and her lips were vibrant red. She wore a long red dress that revealed her shapely figure and she was powdering her nose. A tell tale arm drained of blood poked out from beneath the bed while she was carefully reapplying her make up, it was very much dead however. The lipstick was fine; she always seemed to eat so carefully it never wore off. Her nails were long and painted beautifully. She patted her short hair with the expert touch of a qualified beautician and decided to leave. She had the urge to travel north, far north and she didn't know why. Picking up her suitcase she set off north by train.  
A few weeks later she arrived in a small town, the sun was setting so she took off her sunglasses and un wound her pashmina from her shoulders and head. She glanced at the town sign. It looked as though it had been hit by a car a couple of times and had to be fixed up with yet more wood. It bore the legend 'Welcome to Sunnydale'.  
  
"Hi!" a voice called, Jeannie spun round eyes glowing a menacing green. She said nothing and waited for the voice to show itself.  
"You're not human, neither am I!" Tina pranced out from behind a tree.  
"You weren't there just now, I'd have known." Jeannie was confused.  
"I know, I just dropped in. My name's Tina, what's yours? Who are you?"  
"Like I'm going to tell you! Please!!" she laughed mockingly.  
"Fine, you stay on your own in the town that's home to the slayer and we'll see who survives the longest!" she snorted.  
"Well, I'll take my chances 'cause I know I'll survive longer than you!" she raised a small dagger to slice Tina's throat with.  
"WHY does no-one believe I'm a bad guy?" she implored to no one in general before creating a shield again.  
"Now, can we talk?" she asked.  
So they talked for a while, despite at least getting her to believe that Tina was as much into destruction as she was, Tina knew she and Jeannie weren't going to be the closest of buddies.  
  
Buffy arrived at Giles's house after choosing the top for Willow, it wasn't what Buffy would have liked but Willow seemed to like it.  
"So what's this you were saying about cosmic forces or something?" she asked sitting down. Giles walked over cradling a large tome on his arm opened to a page. He placed it on the desk in front of Buffy and she glanced through it. The pages were very old and yellowed with time but the ink stayed fast recounting prophecies for every day of the week. The one to which Giles referred to was decorated with red ink in pretty patterns that gave the impression of dripping blood.  
"The funny thing is, no other prophecy in this entire book is decorated like this." Giles noted " Even the one back here which foretold your death! It really is quite confusing." He shook his head.  
"Maybe they got bored?" Willow suggested.  
"Humm, this is the last prophecy in the book." Giles sighed.  
"But there are more books right?" Buffy looked worriedly at Giles, "there's more books?"  
"No, I'm afraid that this is the last prophecy I am aware of."  
"That has to be a bad thing" Willow shook her head  
"Armageddon, again?" Buffy groaned.  
"This is very serious Buffy, this is the last prophecy so obviously it must mean…" Giles frowned  
"The prophet died?" Willow squeaked hopefully.  
"No, I think the world is going to die!" Giles sat down sadly.  
"Don't go mopeville on me guys, we've faced death and destruction hundreds of times before, we can prepare before evil gets here." Buffy stood up to arouse patriotism and hope in her friends.  
"Yes I suppose you're right Buffy, I'm sure we can get ready." Giles agreed.  
  
Below Sunnydale in an enlarged crypt Spike walked down a stone corridor with an armful of swords. Tina walked out in front of him reading. After the echo of what seemed like an entire Roman army slipping off a cliff had dyed away Spike could release his bottled up frustration.  
"YOU STUPID BINT!!!" he yelled  
"I'm sorry, I'm SORRY, I was buried in a book."  
"I'LL BLOODY BURY YOU IN A MINUTE!!!" he kicked a sword down the corridor, it pin wheeled away until it hit a wall.  
"Get a hold of yourself!" Tina shouted back. Spike decided not to obviously as he held her to the wall by her neck.  
"I'll kill you and I'll rip up the f*****g book too!" he screamed in her face, then an invisible force propelled him away from her with great speed into a door. He slid down groaning onto the floor.  
"Touch her again and I'll remove you're head!" Ikanden said coldly putting his arm round Tina. "Come on." They walked off, Tina glanced back at Spike getting to his feet and rubbing the back of his head. When Ikanden had walked into another room she ran back and levitated the swords into a bundle, which she picked up and handed to him.  
"I'm sorry." She said again.  
"Yeah, so am I," he frowned and took them off her.  
She gave him a quick hug and ran off after Ikanden. Spike opened the door of the nearest room threw the swords in and walked off.  
"OW!" came a voice after he'd gone, "Who the hell was that." Noskau walked out of his room with a sword through his stomach. "That wasn't funny!" he removed it, looked left and right and then went back to bed.  
The next night they were all gathered around the meeting table. Spike sat at the head of the long wooden table and looked with pride at the members of the Dark Initiative. They had gathered together over the past few months, drawn by a mysterious force of inevitability.   
"The slayer is still alive I notice, and I don't know about you but I'm getting bored, I know I can't join in with the frolics of a killing spree but you lot can." He grinned and looked at them all in turn. Ikanden, Tina, Alisha, Jeannie and Lukas.  
"If we get our act together we can annihilate her. With or without the use of swords!" He slammed his hand on the table and Tina looked up at him. Their eyes met and both looked away.  
The meeting ended and they stood in a row preparing themselves for the great battle they were about to face.  
"Some of you will die, it wouldn't be a fair fight if some of you didn't die." Spike laughed.  
"Oh shut up Spike." Tina said stepping forward "Just because you can't join us doesn't mean you can try to put us off."  
"Why the bloody hell would I try and put you off? I hate the bloody slayer and I want you to KILL her!!" he shouted and slumped into a chair.  
"Ok, none of us will die, only the slayer will die, we will all live and be all powerful." Tina said inspiringly,  
"Hum, yeah and then a handsome prince will ride up on his white stallion and kiss the bloody princess!" Spike muttered.  
"No, the prince will be dead and the princess will be dead, and so will the kings and the queens and the Dukes and the Duchesses and all the bloody crap from all the bloody fairy tales and MOST of all, Father BLOODY Christmas will be DEAD!!!" she shrieked. Ikanden looked worried about her sanity.  
"He doesn't exist." Noskau said walking in, he wasn't at the meeting.  
"NO, he doesn't does he and yet…." Tina began, Ikanden knew where this was going, again, and he pulled her by the hand into line and kissed her until she shut up.  
"Right, fine!" Spike growled, "once that nut ball has been silenced maybe we can work on this…" he laughed slightly and waved his arm in a 'this could all be nonsense' gesture "…funny little thing I heard of once, what was it called now, oh yes A PLAN!!!!"  
"Here's a plan..." Ikanden walked forward and began to explain his idea to the group.  
  
  
The collage was busy as the students all went about their lives. Buffy and Riley were holding hands and talking as they walked down a corridor, Buffy was licking a lollipop in what she hoped was both cute and provocative.  
"So, are you doing anything on Saturday? Cause I'm thinking maybe we could…" Riley began.  
"Yeah, sorry Riley but I've got a major problem going on!" Buffy interrupted  
"How major?" he asked  
"Judgment day major!" she sighed  
"Again?"  
"This is Sunnydale, a fact we have to get used to on a daily basis." She shook her head.  
"Hey! Buffy!" Willow waved madly and ran towards them Tara in tow. "Giles wondered if you could come over to his house after school, we're all going. Riley! You can come too!"  
"What is it, a party?" he asked.  
"No, it's a 'discuss the impending death of life as we know it' meeting!" Willow frowned seriously. "But there might be cheese dip!"  
"Count me in" Riley smiled.  
"I'll be there." Buffy said soberly  
"I'm going too." Tara muttered in a cheerful but very meek way. They looked round at her, her pallid sickly features of her face constantly reminded Buffy of the time she'd balanced semolina on a spoon and watched it ooze off into the bowl.  
"That's great!" she smiled falsely and made her move with Riley in the opposite direction.  
Tara wandered away from Willow looking sad, she may have been happy but sad is the only expression her features can managed as yet.  
"Hi!" Tina said.  
"Hi." She croaked pathetically.  
"I was wondering if you could show me the way to the dormitories, I'm new."  
"Sure." She replied and walked off followed by Tina and further behind Alisha.  
  
"What's up now Giles?" Buffy asked when she arrived at his house with Riley and Willow.  
"What's up? The same thing that's been up for the past two days, the end of the world Buffy!" he replied angrily, "the forces of darkness will soon be upon us! We make ensure we are prepared…where's Spike?"  
"At Xander's probably."  
"Well, as long as Xander's taking care of things over there we've nothing to worry about."  
  
Xander wriggled in his manacles the cold stone floor making him numb from the waist down. The door opened and in walked Noskau. Xander tried to shout something probably not nice through his ball gag but failed.  
"Well, nice to see you too!" Noskau grinned, Xander lowered his sadly the bite wounds on his throat throbbing painfully.  
"Oh come on! You have no idea how I really feed, I'm toning my manners just for you, you still have a jaw don't you!" Noskau laughed and then fed again.  
  
Back in college Tara had reached the dorms with Tina with Alisha sneaking further behind. Once inside the corridor in the dim and empty light Tina and Alisha grabbed hold of Tara's arms and legs and with one free arm Alisha smashed a cudgel into her skull sending her into the inky blackness of unconsciousness.   
The following day Buffy met Willow who was in hysterics,  
"I can't find Tara!" she sobbed, "I've looked everywhere."  
"Uh oh! I'd better tell Giles!" Buffy gasped and ran off to get to the phone.  
"Really? Well I've had Mrs. Harris on the phone, apparently Xander's missing too."  
Gile's told her worriedly when she rang.  
"So, we'll look for them right…is this the prophecy?" Buffy asked.  
"It very well could be Buffy, so I want you at your most alert!" Giles ordered.  
"We'll start right now." Buffy decided and hung up.  
  
"That worked out well." Spike grinned leaning backing his chair.  
"No problem." Alisha smiled pouring herself a drink.  
"Hey Nosk', go easy on this one hey, she looks anaemic already." Tina murmured from behind her magazine.  
Spike coughed and they looked up at him,  
"We're keeping any of them alive why?" he asked.  
There was a long silence.  
"Hey!" Tina frowned "You're damn right!"  
"Let's kill her!" Noskau shouted.  
A loud cheer erupted from the gathered demons and fiends assembled in the depths of Sunnydale.  
  
Tara and Xander could barely acknowledge each other in the dungeon. Xander was so weak he lopped pathetically in his manacles. Tara snivelled in her corner.  
"Don't, w-worry" Xander coughed. "Buffy, will - cough - find us."  
The door burst open and Tina appeared in the doorway followed by Alisha and the others.  
"OK!" she beamed happily "It's time to let you go!"  
"What?" Xander gasped  
"You're letting us go?" Tara whispered.  
"Yes." Tina lowered her head sadly and then lifted it grinning.  
Alisha lifted Tara up slightly by the throat and looked into her pallid face.  
"We're letting you go." She hissed menacingly while Tina unlocked her manacles and the chains fell away.  
Noskau pulled her to her feet and dragged her out of the door, Xander strained feebly at his chains.  
"What about me?" he croaked.  
"You? You want to go?" Tina tilted her head to one side and looked at him "no, you're going to live!" she grinned and walked out of the dungeon. The closed door silenced Xander's warning screams for Tara.  
  
"What are you going to do to her? The longer she lives the closer the inevitability net closes." Lukas noted.  
"Quite simple." Jeannie said coldly "I'm going to gut her!" she smiled thinly.  
"Great idea..If you do it now." Noskau nodded, "if you don't I'm draining her."  
"Quit talking start doing!" Spike shouted, "You know what happens to talkers!"  
"I'll get my stuff and I'll get started." Jeannie grinned and walked out of the room.  
"For fucks sake," Spike groaned, pulled out the Glock 17 he'd taken from Ikanden and blew Tara's brains out.  
Jeannie came running back in shouting.  
"Hey! HEY! That was mine." She screamed at Spike and threw her bag of tools onto the floor.  
"Well at least the slayer didn't save her." He smiled "Now kill the nerdy one."  
"Xander?" Tina asked  
"Yes Xander." Spike sighed, "Who'd you think?"  
"Riley." Tina laughed.  
"I'll do it, you owe me." Jeannie pouted.  
"Cut that out and you can." Noskau said handing her back her bag. She walked off to the dungeons.  
"I want a replacement snack then" Noskau demanded.  
"To Sunnydale then my friends." Ikanden called as he picked up the Glock from Spike. They swarmed out of the crypt like locusts on a summer's night.  
  
"I still can't find her." Willow sobbed into Buffy's shoulder.  
"Come on Will' be strong, we've got to find Xander and Tara and we will." Buffy whispered sympathetically.  
"*Sniff* I suppose you're right." She agreed getting to her feet and wiping her eyes.  
"I'll ask at Willies and we'll see from there." Buffy said hiding 'Mr. Pointy' up her sleeve.  
"I'll check round campus again." Willow sniffled.  
  
Buffy arrived at 'Willies Place' and walked in.  
"You again?" Willie started "there's nothing going on at the moment."  
"Oh yeah? I bet you say that to all the girls." She frowned.  
"All the girls with stakes and fists yeah." Willie backed off to the drinks at the back eyeing her warily.  
"Tara and Xander are missing, shed any light on who did it?" she snarled warningly.  
"No, I don't know anything about it, look I'm not into the snitching game any more, I don't know anything." He pleaded.  
"Do I have to break your nose again?" she asked  
"No, no, honest I don't know anything." He smiled "I'd tell you straight."  
Buffy raised her fist but Willie's story didn't change, even when she punched him.  
"I guess you don't know then." She sighed walking off. Outside she came across a shadowy group of people with the stance of those looking for a fight.  
They were all demons of various origins, fire demons, mucus demons, swamp demons all hulking beasts with disgusting hygiene problems.  
"I guess I get a work out tonight." She grinned fighting them all.  
From the top of a nearby building Ikanden watched the proceedings with the look of a man not in his mind, he wasn't, he was controlling a bunch of demons down below who had no intention of picking fights with slayers. Now they were either fighting or dying and Ikanden was controlling every move they made. Eventually every demon died and Buffy dusted her hands and walked off. Ikanden stood up, smiled and also left his hiding place to return to the crypt.  
  
Meanwhile in the collage Willow was looking around again with simple hope. Suddenly she came across Tara lying behind a hedge.  
"Tara!" she called running to her friends side, "Are you ok?" Tara groaned sitting up.  
"I guess so, a vamp or something hit me." She whispered hoarsely letting Willow help her up.  
"I'll get you back to the dorm'" she smiled with one arm round her pallid companion.  
"Thanks Willow." Tara smiled as they passed a large tree Alisha walked out behind them and slit Willow's throat. She croaked and fell to the floor. Tara's features flickered and then she transformed into Tina.  
"Another one bites the dust!" she grinned  
"Yessss" Alisha punched the air.  
"Shall we remove the body?" Lukas asked leaning against the tree.  
"Nah, shove it under the hedge." Jeannie decided booting Willows flopped head snapping it back violently.  
"She's dead already." Noskau smirked from his position up the tree, he dropped down. "I guess this means the slayer was occupied as planned." He grinned broadly.  
"We'd best get going." Tina looked around warily. "We don't want to meet the slayer."  
"You're scared!" Jeannie laughed mockingly.  
"Of course I'm bloody scared!" she hissed, "the slayer isn't easy to beat you know."  
"Damn right I'm not." Came a new voice from behind them.  
"Shit!" Jeannie shrieked jumping into the air in fright.  
Buffy saw Willow's bloodless body sprawled on the path.  
"OH! You are so dead." She leaped at them high kicking Noskau into the tree. He sprang into the air and flew away. Tina turned into a tree while Buffy as attacking Alisha. Alisha fought back well with her gleaming sword but Buffy was winning. Then, a stream of flames caught Buffy's back and ignited her clothes and hair. Shrieking she fell to the floor and rolled around on the grass. When she staggered to her feet smouldering slightly everyone had gone.  
  
"She has to be dead, Lukas deep fried her." Alisha stated.  
"She won't be dead, I know what she's like." Spike moaned.  
They all sat around the table discussing the success of the evening.  
"Well, Willow and Tara are dead, that's their magic supply all gone." Tina laughed, "There's a new witch in town…" she began to sing but Jeannie threw a cup at her.  
"Now, to dispose of Giles and Riley." Alisha pondered.  
"Ah forget it, Giles is a has-been and Riley is a never-been." Tina laughed, "We'll do it when we're bored, we've got to kill the slayer."  
"Right, it'll be easy." Ikanden spoke for the first time that evening.  
"How?" they asked  
"We all, together, have enough strength and power to beat any slayer, we can bring her down. We'll get her to come to us." Ikanden plotted.  
  
Tina ran through the high street around midnight with a mischievous look on her face and a grocery bag in her arms, her eyes darted left and right secretly and then she hid in the shadows. She crept along in the darkness for some time.  
"This isn't going to work." She thought to her self when a foot collided with her stomach.  
"Urgh!" she gasped doubling up and falling down. She rolled over and jumped to her feet and ran off, leaving the grocery bag on the street. Buffy ripped it open in her hurry and Tara's head rolled out. Buffy retched and staggered backwards, she could still make out Tina in the distance and gave chase like she'd never chased before.  
Tina darted down a side road not stopping for a second as Buffy gained on her, her stake was raised as she got too close for Tina's comfort and she couldn't take it anymore. Tina screamed and leapt high into the air exploding in a shower of tiny flames.  
"One down, more to go." Buffy grinned to herself. She looked round, there was no way out. "How did I get in then?" she asked herself.  
A force threw her against a wall. And she found she couldn't move.  
"We could stand here and talk, exchange jibes and insults, and I could devise and tell you of the various ways in which you'll die…but I can't be arsed!" Ikanden snarled, "get her."  
With a shriek and a roar of the aggression of ages Alisha slashed, Lukas burned, Noskau ripped, Jeannie gouged, Ikanden merely watched with mild amusement as the slayer struggled in vain against his powers. Soon she was beyond recognition as the person she once was, if she was ever human before she certainly didn't look it now. Her hair was gone apart from some charred stubble, her face and body were badly mutilated and only the shallowest of breaths escaped her lungs.  
"She's still alive." Alisha said.  
"Yes." Ikanden's smile laced with evil, he raised his arms and whispering of a thousand voices began growing to a crescendo of shouts when he lashed both hands at the slayer, her eyes opened wide in horror as she disappeared into a black portal.  
"But she lives!" Alisha gasped.  
"Within that portal is every creature she has ever killed or banished, including the master, I'm sure the reunion would be worthy of attention but sadly we can not attend." He clapped his hands together.  
"So another slayer will be born?" Tina asked shimmering into solidarity next to Ikanden.  
"When a slayer dies another is born. Buffy will remain as she is for all eternity, disfigured, on the point of death and faced with an eternal slay fest of monsters as immortal as she. She will not return, for if, somehow, she does, she will die instantly as she was on the very point of death when she left. So no, there will be only Faith until Faith dies, and I think we can deal with her for now."  
"Why didn't you tell us about this great plan?" Jeannie asked.  
"Because the more who know the more inevitable it is we lose. Now, you feast upon your riches." Ikanden bowed and walked away followed by Lukas, Noskau and Tina.  
"Aren't you staying?" Alisha asked.  
"I never stay, there are thousands of places I could be, thousands of dimensions, why should I waste all those slayers deaths by staying here?" he laughed and they walked back to the Heretic.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
